Adam McQuaid being "ramped up" in off-ice workouts

Although it's appearing unlikely that Adam McQuaid will don a Bruins sweater before the regular season concludes in a little over two weeks, he apparently is progressing in his recovery.

By Dan CagenDaily News staff

WILMINGTON — Although it's appearing unlikely that Adam McQuaid will don a Bruins sweater before the regular season concludes in a little over two weeks, he apparently is progressing in his recovery.

Coach Claude Julien said after Friday's practice that the defenseman has "ramped up" his off-ice workouts.

"He's being ramped up right now off ice as we speak," Julien said. "He's going in the right direction. I don't know exactly when you're going to see him on the ice, but right now things are going well."

McQuaid hasn't played since Jan. 19 due to a troublesome quad strain that's been bugging him for over four months and has also affected his groin and leg. After a setback in the last week of February, McQuaid was shut down in his rehab.

“All I know is they’ve told me he’s doing well off the ice, and at one point they’re going to tell me ‘within a few days we’re probably going to put him on the ice,' " Julien said. "I’m certainly not going to hold that back. When I find out that [he's] going to go on the ice soon, I’ll certainly let you guy know.”

The Bruins have nine games left in the season, which ends April 13 at New Jersey, so it may be unlikely at this point that McQuaid could return to game shape so quickly after missing so much time. However, if he could be ready for the playoffs, even if only as a depth pickup, it would be a boon to the Bruins' playoff chances.

Boston used nine defensemen in last year's run to the Stanley Cup Final, so adding another experienced option would be only helpful. In the meantime, Kevan Miller will likely continue to fill McQuaid's spot as the bashing right-hand shot on the third pairing.

Julien has rotated Matt Bartkowski, Dougie Hamilton, Torey Krug and Andrej Meszaros in the last few weeks to determine his playoff lineup. Meszaros has been a healthy scratch the last two games, although Bartkowski again had some struggles Thursday against the Blackhawks. Julien has not determined what his defensive six-pack will look like for Game 1 of the playoffs.

“I’m not there yet. I don’t like to look too far ahead,” Julien said. “Right now I’m looking at whatever we have left in the regular [season] schedule. We’ll deal with that stuff. We always do it that way. As time comes along, you hear, you find out more things and you just deal with the situation as it comes, because you never know. You may not even have to deal with it, so I’m not going to waste time dealing with it right now.”